Crusaders Suffer 76-64 Loss To Lafayette

Anthony Thompson

Feb 19, 2014

WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior forward Dave Dudzinski (Elburn, Ill.) posted the ninth double-double of his collegiate career with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Lafayette 76-64 at the Hart Center. The Crusaders fall to 16-11 on the season and 10-5 in the Patriot League with the loss, while the Leopards improve to 9-17 overall and 5-10 in the conference.

The Crusaders held a 33-28 rebounding advantage on the night, but made just 37.9 percent of their field goal attempts (22 of 58) and 20.0 percent of their three-pointers (five of 25). The Leopards were able to connect on 55.1 percent of their shots from the floor (27 of 49) and 52.6 percent of their three-point attempts (10 of 19).

The game was close early on, and Holy Cross held a narrow 13-10 lead with 12:58 remaining in the first half. Lafayette then went on 12-4 run over the next three minute to pull ahead by five (22-17), and would eventually claim an eight-point lead (34-26) with 3:19 to go before the break. The Crusaders responded by netting the next eight points to tie the score, before the Leopards closed out the half with a 5-0 spurt to take a 39-34 advantage into the locker room.

Holy Cross trimmed the margin down to three points (43-40) early in the second half, but would then go over seven minutes without making a field goal as Lafayette went in front by 12 (54-42) with 11 minutes left in regulation. The Crusaders would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way, as the Leopards eventually led by 18 before finally posting a 12-point victory.